Greetings, Travel Tip-Seekers!

Submit your best travel photos for a chance to win $1,000 CASH or $2,000 OFF a future NextTribe trip. Deadline is Friday, May 15 at midnight EDT.

Check out all the details here.

Now, in other news…

Here are this week’s tips curated for you from our reliable sources in the travel industry and from general interest newsletters, websites, and publications.

You know how nurses make baby burritos out of newborns by swaddling them tightly in their hospital blankets? A Washington Post reporter swears this new product works for her on long-haul flights. She also uses one of those turtle neck collars and travels with a sling to rest her feet on. Let me know if you’ve tried any of these. I’m still partial to my inflatable neck and lumbar pillows, but I’ve nearly bought the foot sling a few times. Not so sure about this arm constraint, even though you can pull it down in front if you need a drink of water.

Got $45? You, too, can join the movement to buy Spirit Airlines. As much as we might have bitched about it, avoided it, and only used it when we had to, Spirit, Frontier and other low-cost carriers have kept airfares somewhat affordable by competing with the big carriers.

If you were holding an unused ticket bought directly from Spirit, you should have already received a refund. If you used a third party or a travel agent, you have to contact them. If you were redeeming miles, get in line at bankruptcy court, and good luck.

Other airlines stepped up and offered “rescue fares” during the immediate crisis, but that’s over now.

Here is CNN’s hot take on this year’s air travel landscape. I’ve been saving this one because most of these prediction articles are BS. But we’re halfway through the year now, and it looks pretty accurate. I flew United back from Mexico a few days ago. Global Entry is as fast as ever and this time I didn’t get flagged in Houston for an interview. But my carryon bag did get opened in Mexico because my hot curlers looked suspicious.

My husband Dave booked a hotel in Mexico City for us through Chase Travel. It looked like a nice place in a good location (Roma Norte) and we were pleasantly surprised when the large suite with a kitchenette was even better than the photos. It was modern, artsy, but we could have used a little more light.

My girlfriend who’d arrived earlier had asked for a room on a higher floor, and her room was bright and airy. I wanted to change rooms but Dave—who thinks it’s rude to ask for a sample in an ice cream store—said it was fine. If you’re a frequent traveler you know this: hotels often put new guests in their least desirable rooms. The front desk can usually put you in a better room if you ask for it, but you have to ask. Here are some more tips for getting the best room available without paying extra.

You can use the following prompt into your favorite ai tool to find mistake airfares, which usually only last in the system for an hour or two.

Just copy and paste all of the information below into the ai’s search bar and it will set up a customized “mistake fare alert” system for departures from your home airport.

Build me a 24-hour mistake fare monitoring system for [HOME AIRPORT].

List:

Include Google Flights validation step to avoid phishing scams.

I haven’t tried this myself, but I know people who have flown for crazy mistake airfares that the airlines honored, e.g. $90 from the US to Europe.

Thanks for reading.

Happy traveling!

Jeannie Edmunds

Chief Operating Officer

Click the image below to submit an essay about how travel has helped you process a big shift in your life.

Click on a square to see our trip listing.

REMEMBER: We offer interest-free monthly payments

All are Virtual Events start at 6:30 pm ET, unless otherwise noted.

After Parties are gatherings of women who just completed a trip. If you’re curious about that trip, join us for the group’s slideshow and some “live reviews!”

Trip Previews are presentations about upcoming trips. Someone present at each Trip Preview will win a $400 discount in a random drawing unless the trip is Sold Out.